European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 3, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                June 2007 stars and stripes Page 31 your Money new car loan affect mortgage process dear Liz my wife and i Are planning to Purchase our first House within a were on target to have a Down payment of about 20 percent of the expected Pur Chase my older car has finally decided to Call it the car has a Kelley Blue Book value of around and it would require in re pairs to pass inspection this we didst plan on replacing it until next june when my wife car payments Are a few months after we Purchase our instead of putting that targe amount of Money into my old could fail for another reason at any Given time we Are looking into buying another my question would we damage our credit scores and end up paying for our mortgage by taking out a car loan so close to beginning our House mortgage process should we try to wait until after buying the House to pursue a new vehicle answer its Tough to predict the effect of applying for a which is Why credit experts typically recommend waiting until after youve secured a mortgage be Money talk Liz Pulliam Weston fore pursuing other your scores probably would have time to recover if you financed a car Purchase but there Are no you May be thinking about the car Issue too youve weighed the expected repair costs against the vehicles but the better Way to Evalu ate the situation is to weigh your cars total expected annual costs against those of a replacement even if you buy modestly priced used you probably Are signing yourself up for years of significant monthly payments plus higher and registration unless your car is constantly in the youll probably pay less Overall by keeping and repairing it As a Good Mechanic often can help you identify looming problems so that you fix them before they become a crisis and strand you its especially important that you keep your expenses under control now As you get ready to Purchase your first Home owning can be an expensive proposition with plenty of expected including the Down payment and closing mortgage property insurance and there also Are unpredictable ones such As when the Furnace a pipe Breaks or termites youd be smart to live in your new Home at least a year to acclimate your selves and your budget to these costs be fore signing up for any new dear Liz when you file for bankruptcy Protection Why do some stores close your credit accounts even if you dont owe them any Money and didst include them in the bankruptcy filing i would think the stores would realize they we rent owed Money and not care about the it seems they would lose a lot of Busi Ness this answer its business they want to when you opened your accounts with these they probably looked at your credit and decided you were a reasonable they might have even kept your accounts open when you started missing payments with other either be cause there not in the habit of regularly checking your credit reports or their policy is not to care what you do with other but a bankruptcy is hard to filing for bankruptcy is the single worst thing you can do to your credit the three digit numbers lenders use to help gauge your although a few lenders specialize in of Fering High rate credit cards and Loans to people who have filed for most creditors choose to avoid extending credit to folks who have opted to erase their dear Liz Ive recently paid off three credit even though i no longer have the actual Are the accounts still listed in my name and Active i dont get statements anymore since there answer if you always made your pay ments on time and didst request the accounts be there probably still you can Call the issuers or Check your credit reports at the three major bureaus Equi fax and Tran Union to see if the accounts Are still listed As you can get one free report annually at or by Call ing 877 3228228 you typically must pay a Small Liz Pulliam Weston is the author of the books your credit score and Deal with your both published by Prentice questions for possible inclusion in her column May be sent to 3940 Laurel Canyon studio Ca or via the Contact Liz form at distributed by no More red fridays Market summary 1 indexes 52week net Ltd 52wk High Low name last chg Dow Jones industrials Dow Jones transportation Dow Jones utilities nose composite amex Index Nash a composite Russell 2000 do Wilshire 5000 1 ii Nash a most Active or name last Active m More name last Active or More name last chg Micron 581168 Walmart 481688 forum 358356 Pfizer 307507 Geneles 291373 pm cup 286071 m Psi corp 273672 timeworn 245914 219965 Motorola 218451 944248 ishk2knya 625312 Prusha Rqn 156408 Semi her 147374 Spencey Spuill 115897 do Madiam 91516 spa Sci 70476 spends 51217 on2tech 50786 1046440 Dell Nulf 511965 Sun Micro 479041 Intel 474234 Cisco 464546 Microsoft 375695 Andreon 336702 Apple inc 308375 Oracle 253765 Al matl 247004 1 key defense Valliant Armor computer general dynamics general Harris Allied l3 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issuance for South the Netherlands and the United for no local currency Exchange rates purchasing British pounds in Germa Check with your local military Bank ing commercial rates Are inter Bank rates provided for reference when buying All figures Are foreign currencies to one except for the British which is represented in and the which is Dol precious metals new York merc dose interest rates prime discount Federal funds Market 3month 30year sources the associated Bank of America and sensibility Money tip of the Day surviving joint finances by Marshall Loeb Market watch new York if you Are Liv ing As part of an unmarried Cou you May face some special financial so it Proba Bly makes sense to work out strategies with your mate for combining finances that will be fair and hassle Here Are five ideas that Many financial planners recommend to Start budget for joint the first step to financial Harmony is to agree on a budget for monthly household its probably Wise to open a joint Bank account to cover Bills that you such As electricity and mine and while some couples choose to split monthly bilk 5050 across this approach Doest work for chances Are one partner earns More than the if this is the you May opt to contribute a proportional amount of your after the joint expenses Are the Money remaining in your personal account is yours to spend set Mutual even if you choose to keep separate a clarify your Lon term financial goals with your you want to own a House to Gether someday if you May choose to open a joint savings account to which you both can con if you intend to have Chil be sure you agree on what will be the Basic dont avoid hard discus if you and your partner Are having disagreements about address them before resentment try scheduling a monthly or even weekly meet ing to discuss ongoing issues and Mutual be straightforward about combining finances is one of the surest signs that both partners Are fully committed to a but there Are in stances when such a Combina Tion int avoid each person should take responsibility for the debts incurred before entering into the discover Why so Many people Are n St